fair weather fans

From the Michigan Daily:

“Not to lose at all,” Woodley said of his expectations for next year. “That’s reasonable for me, not to lose at all. I hate to say, ‘Oh, yeah we’re going to lose, it’s going to be 11-1.’ No, go all the way. That’s always my thing, take one game at a time and you can do that.”

I love this. It encapsulates my attitude on game day. One game at a time. I can step back, analyze the situation, and accept the likelihood that Michigan will lose x number of games this season, but as a fan I do my best to think like the team has to in order to win. That is, I always believe we are going to win. Call me a fool, but that's what I always think. Even late in the 3-9 and 5-7 seasons, I still thought we could win any given game.

I accept that some people are proponents of what my wife calls "the power of negative thinking" -- it's a form of superstition -- and I'm okay with that, but I think the definition of a vile troll is someone who actually wants their negative prediction to come true just so they can be proven right. Perhaps we should call these people "foul-weather fans" -- they are basically just what happens to fair-weather fans when the going gets tough. You don't see these jerks much here in MGoLand, but they seem to be plentiful on the newspaper sites and the like. Screw them -- I'm joining the Church of LaMarr.

(Yes, I'm re-posting this. Neg me all you want for doing so, but I want people to see this and to not to hear any booing tomorrow should something go awry on the field. could happen.)

OK, I'm dying for Saturday. I am jacked that people are going to cheer Rich and the players and make their support known. This is good. Very good.

I would like to propose we take one additional measure toward making sure that the players and coaches know we are behind them 100%. I was never so ashamed as a Michigan fan than I was last year when 'some' M fans boo-ed a bunch of young players who were giving it their all. I would like very much not to hear that again.

Let's face it, there will be some growing pains on Saturday. Michigan is a very young team going up against a more experienced team, which means the first half (and points therein) might be rough. Hell the second half might be rough.....we might lose. No matter what the status is on the field/scoreboard, there should be be no booing.

The revelations this week, if nothing else, should make it clear to all that these kids are enduring a lot to get on that field. If you can't muster up enough energy to scream your head off, you owe them at least the little bit of effort it will take to keep your EFFING mouth shut should you feel the need to boo them.

If someone near you starts booing, get in their face. If you hear someone telling one of our booing, fair-weather brethren to knock it off, make yourself heard and back them up vocally. Make your presence and lack of tolerance for this known. Loudly. Tell them to can it. I LOVE the story about Brian throwing a cup at some booing a-hole last year. If that person gets showered in cups, they will think twice about opening their pie-hole to boo again.

My hope is that they will realize that they are outnumbered and sit back down (Lord knows if they weren't still sitting down, they will have only stood up to boo) and seriously STFU. We can only hope they will vacate their season tickets and make way for real fans.

I would like to think that there are more of 'us' than 'them' and if everyone that really supports the team vocally, openly objects, we should have no problem with booing in this or any other game. If there aren't more of 'us', then, well, we don't really deserve a winning team anyway.

Hopefully the surging support for Rich and the players can help usher in a new era by generating excitement, producing a proactive (read, not sit on your ass) fan base and ultimately a vast increase in the noise level in our beloved Big House.

Seriously, I went to all the home games growing up and I remember so many instances on third down where opposing QBs had to step back from the center and call timeout b/c they couldn't hear. I even remember a few crowd noise violations. By the time I went to UM (graduated '90) that was all but gone. Yes, people used to shake their keys on 3rd downs, but that does not preclude you from yelling your head off, stomping your feet, etc.

Once we purge the boo-ers, we can start going after the 'down-in-fronters' ;)

EDIT: If you see Susan Brown, fart on her and let her know she and those of her ilk are appreciated thusly. Hi susan ;)